looks like a good site for christian songwriters
click here for link to "
ChristianSongwriting.org"
I was especially interested in some of the articles
on the main page about the psychology of songwriting. Like this line:
""He explains the rostromedial prefrontal cortex is not only where we seem to interpret music, it has also been identified as a region that plays a role in directing motion. As the brain perceives music, he says, it could
also be sending out signals to groove""
I say the best SONG-writers are the hyper-basic ones. Ya'll don't confuse that with "moronic" (although there have been those!) but what I'm saying is this;
All writing is a form of higher communication. Songwriting is different in that the message you are communcating is comprehended better if it is brief and somewhat repetitive.
Example; I love a radio preacher named Steve Brown. He can say more in his 15 minute show than most preachers do in an hour.....Or is it that I can remember what he said better BECAUSE it is brief and to the point?
Some songwriters like to make beautiful art and I appreciate their work. These songs aren't usually meant to communicate to very large audiences because they are done for the writer's pleasure. Great!
Then there are songwriters who have something to say to the world. They know the meaning of what painters call "negative space" and remove any clutter that distracts from the point they want to make. They understand the language of music and have mastered writing songs in a way that the largest possible audience can not only recieve the message but like the music at a
subliminal level also.
Have you ever liked a song that you didn't really want to like at first? Like that Susan Vega song about the cafe? If you know who Susan Vega is then you can hum it in your sleep
It just starts digging into your subconscious and won't let go.
THAT is what I call "deep" because it is demanding your brain's attention at a level you can't control. I think this is what many of the worldly songwriters know how to do. They are speaking of some pretty base things in humanity already.
If we want to call to someone's spirit....we should write/perform in a way that the natural man might not always understand...but his spirit can't resist. This is what makes music so powerful. Our enemy has been getting away with it for years and it's time we take back this ground for the ancient classical Masters who were men of faith who held the forefront of the arts for centuries.
Let's throw the box away, ok? Let's be creative and imaginative! Break every rule of "common" wisdom by being wiser in the ways of the Lord and still striving for excellence BECAUSE of it.
If christian songwriters can make WORTHY statements in such a way that a listener can't resist listening...we will change the world.
Or we can just keep repeating what the choir wants to sing and that's cool too....someone is called to do that and it is SUCH an important calling in ministry
Its a great thing to do when you're feeling down.
